A Goddess Parts the Clouds
by Aiko Isari
Summary: It has been a long time since she has spoken to a human. Slight xover with Serial Experiments Lain. Pre-01/Pre-Cyber Sleuth


_Warning for non-graphic violence, harmful to minors, slight disassociation, crossover, mind screw elements._

* * *

For Mikihara Norn, her old name was always somewhere in the back of her mind. In the very, very back.

The forefront focused on the trees and the world around her. Today she took the form of a Tinkermon and touched down on gnarled branches to stare at a lake.

Lain loved it here.

The Wired fluttered and responded to her call. Now that she had pulled it away from human hands, it was so excitable, and in a good way. Now it could grow and spread with less interference, and less fear.

The leaves swam in the air beneath her fingers, and Lain smiled. Thousands, tens of thousands, of digital cycles and the idea of smiling was still so unnatural.

Alice would love it. Maybe.

Norn slapped her cheeks gently and continued her walk. Today was a peaceful day, but it wouldn't always be so. It couldn't be. After all, when you were a god so very long, you knew peace was as temporary as war. And war and fighting was on the horizon.

But, well, she had a little more time. It wouldn't hurt to enjoy herself for a little bit longer.

There was a soft rustle of leaves behind her and she paused mid-step. The wind tickled her bare feet and she almost laughed. Yet many human years of self-preserving silence won over, and she went still as a young rabbit. The rusting sound came again, soft and unassuming. Then, white paws and a black nose peeked out from the bushes, followed by amber eyes and purple fur. It moved unsteadily on its hind legs for a moment. Then, satisfied that it wouldn't be harmed, it began to walk a bit faster. It ran in the soft dirt, seemingly unaware of her standing there, watching.

Of course, being what she was, Norn could, theoretically, not be seen by anyone, let alone a mortal resident of the realm. That said, she tended to prefer to be. They always had interesting conversations and being all-knowing and all-seeing wasn't as reliable as the stories made it out to be. Also it was overwhelming when she thought about it too much.

Once again, her social skills were improving.

She watched the Digimon (haha, the human mind came up with such interesting things and these in particular were wonderful) continue its placid walk through the tropical forest. Slowly, using as little power as possible, Norn began to follow.

-For a crisis will come, and you ought to be ready for when it does.-

She paused and turned around. A little voice again. It was vaguely familiar. But she had met so many strange ones over the cycles. One more wasn't too much, surely. Well, at this rate, it might be too much for her memory. She tugged at her silver hair by nervous reflex. Oh, how Lain hated forgetting things. That had been her life as she remembered it, forgetting and being forgotten.

Ahh… ABC… That old thing had left her with so much responsibility, and after letting her lose her memory too. Shame on him.

She sighed to herself and gave up. Barely moving her mouth, and one eye on the quickly running Digimon -Dorumon, she reminded herself-, Norn said in a low voice. "Who is there? Please show yourself."

No verbal response. The Dorumon's footsteps grew fainter and the branches of the trees shivered with the leaves. Then, a soft shimmer of light formed beneath one of the larger trees. Sparkles after sparkles layered and spun into a prism of color until slowly, surely, a human child formed from the light. She curtsied.

"Apologies," she said, the line of her mouth barely moving. "I am still working on my teleportation."

Norn relaxed ever so slightly, smiling before the expression could stop itself. "Hello, Mirei." The girl dipped her head in greeting. Norn regarded the girl, who clutched the laptop that was clearly too big for her. The lost child she had found wandering the most primitive areas of the Wired. Her memories, so scattered and broken, might as well have been non-existent. And without a body of her own

 _Sometimes, it is quite like looking in a mirror._ She lifted her head and adjusted the unusual white of her dress. "What brings you to this area of the Digital World, little traveler?" She was often alone, this girl, without even a Digimon to keep her safe. If Lain -Norn- had been a parent, she would drag this child after her by the ear. Alas, she knew nothing about parenting and thus had no right to really do so. At least she could give the girl requests, cause her to be less likely to go off the beaten track.

The girl watched her thoughtfully, or with what was perhaps thoughtfulness. It was hard to say. Mikagura Mirei had only occasionally cracked a smile in their few meetings and even being a knowledgeable immortal did not afford her to understand every single body gesture from every person. "There is an intruder here."

"Specifically here?"

Mirei raised a delicate, lilac eyebrow and Norn chuckled to herself. The girl really had no sense of humor, just like she hadn't in the past.

 _(Alice, would you be proud of me right now?)_

"What is it," she tried instead. "You would not have tried telepathy if this wasn't serious."

Mirei nodded in slow agreement. "I am not certain of what it is, what they are. However, it is causing great distortions in time and space. The break in particular is… around that firewall area, from what I have been able to gather."

"The Wall of Fire..." Norn knew perfectly well why she was there. Ike moth to a normal flame, she was attracted to the past that had been stolen from her. As Norn herself had been. As everyone who had lost a great chunk of their lives would be. "Is there a gap?"

"There is an attempt at one." Mirei sat on the ground and opened the computer up. She turned the screen to face Norn, revealing a greyish part of what was normally orange and yellow flames. "I managed to push it back but that may not mean much in the long run." Her purple eyes, lacking pupils, bored into Norn's face. "I am not certain you and I, or the Digimon for that matter, can handle it alone."

Centuries before, and perhaps to a different girl entirely, that would have been a completely unoffensive statement. There would have been no way to handle that other than with affront. After all, she was a _goddess_. To say she couldn't handle a threat that was currently very small was laughable.

Yet, after many years, it was an unfortunate reality. How could one person, no matter how powerful they were, keep a world running _and_ destroy every threat that came about in it, small or large? You simply couldn't. It was like asking the brain to perform the same tasks as a white blood cell. It would run her to the ground. She sighed a bit on the inside at the idea.

So Norn took this comment as the statement of fact it probably was. She tapped a bare foot against the dirt. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Humans."

The prompt, single word answer told Norn at least two things. First, the girl had sought her out only after turning this over in her head. The second was that this was even more grave than it could have been.

 _(The third is that this little girl really isn't human anymore, is she?)_

Norn punched her nose and let out a heavy, pained sigh. Humans. Humans indeed. She had experienced being one, looked like one. So many of the monsters here had humanoid forms. Humans had both polluted and enhanced her Wired. The last time they had been there, they had-

They had ruined her human life.

(Alice didn't. Alice saved your life. Alice cared about you. She trusted you.)

"You mean," Norn spoke slowly, attempting to drive the invasive thoughts away, the pitch-black pain that came from being too old. "To use them to defeat this… threat?"

Mirei nodded again, turning the computer around. "Humans are… quite fragile, however, so, perhaps, with Digimon as well, it would be-" She paused, as if hesitating. "Ideal."

Norn chewed on her lip in thought. It wasn't too outrageous. Unusual, yes, but not outrageous. Still. She'd like to seek other alternatives. They would be bringing in otherworlders into a potentially life-threatening situation. That wasn't easy, and it wasn't fair. They needed to be sure that it was the right thing to do.

"I would like to test the idea," she said, giving Mirei a decisive smile. "With you."

Mirei tilted her head, puzzling the vague statement over in her head. Then, she dipped her head. "Of course."

Norn smiled and shut her eyes. She breathed in once, and reached through body and code. Out and out, farther and farther. It had been so long since she had tried to play around with the world she had helped to create. Surely it would do no harm to try again.

* * *

It's worked.

Well, as much as this sort of thing can work. Norn had never seen the girl moving so much in their short span of time around each other. Followed by bouncing cat heads, no less. It was honestly _adorable._ Not that she would say so aloud. She wasn't sure Mirei would understand what she meant.

She rubbed one cat head, smiling at them both. They gave their excited little mews and bounced between her hands and Mirei's. Mirei pet one, a small smile playing about her mouth. Yes, seeing that was a good sign. They could work together.

She said so and earned cheerful titters from the world at large, from the babies of File Island.

She looked towards the great visage of Infinity Mountain and let out a heavy exhale. So, there was some proof that this was a possibility, that there was hope. The next step was obvious enough.

Try a Digimon with actual Earth humans.

Norn clapped her hands and got to work.

* * *

Success.

Yes. This was it. This was exactly what had to be done. But, how and when.

"Right now, it's small," Norn reasoned as she flew. She could simply teleport, but the curse of the Wall of the Fire was that everything was distorted upon it. You could have a migraine before you went close and a Core attack when you left. "It won't stay small, but I don't know the rate of infection. And if I open the Gate to find no one worthy, it may notice and circumvent that way..."

She muttered on to herself until she reached her destination. Norn touched down and summoned her staff. It flickered red and surrounded her in a sheen of light. Then, looking around, the woman stepped forward. Her steps were fast, ignoring (or perhaps denying the existence of) the heat. By the time she reached the wall, it would have dropped a living being to their knees, gasping for air. Norn watched the flames, watched them dance and spark and burn without smoke.

Then. Blink.

Miss.

Blinked.

There.

Grey.

Mottled, corpse grey. Pushed back.

Then. Again. Again.

Each time reaching out. Somewhat far. Somewhat fast. Still. The Wall was doing its job.

It was too bad. She would like to know the creatures on the other side, but if they were distorting the dimensions at this stage, who knew what they would do down the line?

No. She couldn't risk more dead or dying. Even if the worlds got reset, it wasn't worth the risk.

Norn turned away and didn't look back. It was time to get started. Gennai needed to be brought up to speed.

* * *

She flew down to where Mirei was sitting, back against a tree. Her purple eyes seemed intent on the bouncing forms of slime babies congregated in a circle. They chattered at each other, eyes bright and full of youthful vigor or something. "We have a small problem," Mirei said softly when she had caught her breath.

"Problem?" Norn echoed, testing her racing heart.

"The gate is opening for five." Mirei's voice was as monotone as ever, even with puppies at her ankles, chewing on her ragged shoes. Absently, Norn noted to make her get new ones. "The partners are meant for four. We can't split the one, we don't know the effects of that now."

Norn swallows. She can make another. In the end it's the humans who will influence the growth of the Digimon. But that meant she would have to be visible and for the beginning, she didn't want to risk that. She would probably scare them if she was. Mirei might not, but she was small and innocent looking. She was a goddess. Who knew what aura that radiated?

She didn't want to admit she was scared of being near a human again.

So she didn't. Norn cast her mind out, across File, to the babies, to the children, to anyone who was recipient to change.

Her mind met fur and dragon claws and the smell of metal. Curious sniffing, confused with power. Then, she smiled, recognizing the sound of those wary footsteps.

"Got it," she whispered. Norn opened her eyes and looked at Mirei. "Go ahead and get started," she commanded. "I will go and find them and bring them here."

Mirei didn't question her. She only nodded. "Be careful." Her small fingers continued their rapid typing. "There are strange fluctuations in the air. I don't think I like them much."

The stare again. This time, Norn got something very different from them. Such a child was in those eyes. Norn dipped her head in response to it. "I will be."

She always was.

Mirei looked away, lips twitching.

* * *

She could see the light of the Gate across the sky, electric blue and in a brief, towering arc of power. Norn smiled a little, chest filling with pride. The girl had managed to construct a Gate program and execute it with from what she could see from her, few to no flaws. So young… Imagine what she could do in another ten years, or even half that.

She wasn't teleporting again, partially to think of what to say, and mostly because randomly appearing in front of a _beast-dragon_ was asking for claws to rake into her face, no matter how much she could easily make it not happen. That wouldn't keep things calm, now would it?

Norn dropped to the ground once she reached the familiar forests. She took off at a run, banishing her staff to move faster. Her steps were silent through force of will.

As she went alone, nausea began to pour into Norn's stomach. It ground at its walls and churned the acid. For a few moments, she had to stop and catch her breath.

Something was very, very wrong. And of course it had to be right now.

She took off running once more, casting out her mind for help, for anything.

Silence. Silence.

Then familiarity.

* * *

Norn teleported back with the Dorumon. She would have regretted it if she could have. As it was, the panic had reached her eyeballs and panic in the eyes never solved anything. It only really caused fainting spells. Those weren't helpful. She released the confused Digimon's paw and raced forward. Her mind cast out, breath coming out in harsh pants.

"No, no..."

She shouted Mirei's name and met silence for a minute too long. The clearing was so quiet. Yet the

-mottled-

Chill was somewhere.

She forgot the Digimon entirely, running, streaking for her apprentice, charge, the Digimon, the human children (oh ABC were they dead?)

Norn summoned her staff at the sound of a breaking tree trunk. Then her heartbeat slowed by half a step at a flicker of lilac hair. She teleported over with a breath.

"What happened?"

Mirei didn't even blink at the sight of her, merely continued to cover – the little Digimon, oh no - and pointed a short distance away. Norn squinted and Lain felt bile in her throat.

A human child.

Like Alice, small and young and probably broken fore-

"The others are safe," Mirei interrupted her thoughts with relish. Norn would be grateful later. "That one's data is heading… somewhere. I've been trying to trace it, but at this stage, it's difficult."

 _It's difficult because of the babies here,_ Norn translated, and was grateful to find the befuddled, furry face of the Dorumon a few steps away. She gestured for him. "Take them," she instructed, pointing to the babies.

Dorumon stared. "W-Where?"

Mirei picked up two and her pups pushed two more over. "Anywhere that's not here," she said dryly. She shoved the others on top of the creature. "Go. We've been compromised."

They stared and then swallowed heavily. Dorumon ran away from them as fast as he could. Norn barely watched him go before looking at Mirei.

"You need to go as well." Mirei gave her a look of disbelief and Norn mentally reflected that the Digimon had to be working wonders if that look was on her face. "Yes you do. I need to make sure the gate is closed and investigate the boy. You need to get to Gennai, explain everything, then wait for me. This wasn't anyone's fault, but we need to recover. Understand?"

Mirei's small face would have reflected frustration if it could. Instead, she only nodded, body already glowing with light. Norn tried to smile. Mirei picked up her pups and tightened her grip on her laptop. Then her eyes went wide, just as she was nearly gone.

Norn turned-

Pain.

Grey cold corpse pain, like being squeezed through cables and torn up to do it. Hurts hurts raw pain and then in the dark.

Her staff was gone. Everything was black and gray and swirled up. The world was somehow very bright, despite no indication that light would exist here. She floated, unable to land on any one surface.

Then, she heard a small sniffle. It was faint, but they grew louder. Norn pushed herself forward, towards the sound. The sound gradually grew into full on sobs. Poor thing. She saw a small ball of a child, rocking on invisible ground. She touched down, as silently as she ever had. Kneeling, Norn wrapped the child into a hug. They stiffened, but only for a moment. The desire for comfort, for people, was too great, something she knew very well.

"It's going to be okay," she said. "We'll get through this. I'll fix this."

Perhaps she sounded just enough like an adult, just enough like Alice, because the boy's sniffles started to slow. Not that she was lying. She would find a way to make this work.

Somehow.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Oof, well, that took a while. Glad it's done though. This is the short beginning to mixing manga and game verse with 01 and 02. Not sure how it's going to play out all of the way, but I hope it's good! Please let me know what you think!

 **Challenges:** Diversity Writing Challenge (Digimon) G4. write a oneshot, Prompts in Steps 4.06 - decimate, Ultimate Sleuth 0.3 - write about suddenly recalling something, gameverse boot camp prompt - uncovered, what if challenge, Advent Calendar 2016 day 23. Start a series or add to a series.


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